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Vincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 24, 1945) is an American professional wrestling promoter. He is currently the chairman and majority owner of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Schooling and early career
McMahon was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina and attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, where he became the first cadet in the school's history to be court-martialed (but not convicted). He graduated from East Carolina University in 1968 with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing.
McMahon didn't meet his biological father until he was 12. Living in a trailer park in North Carolina, he had only known a string of abusive stepfathers until his mother revealed that his father was World Wide Wrestling Federation promoter Vincent J. McMahon. The WWWF, and its parent company the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, had dominated pro wrestling in the Northeastern United States during the mid-20th century, when it was divided into strictly regional enterprises. McMahon grew closer to his real father than his stepfather, and was fascinated by the wrestling business. He became involved in the business himself after a ring announcer left abruptly and his father needed a replacement, but his father wasn't pleased by his son's eagerness to be in the business, since he knew how difficult it could be. The elder McMahon was willing to give his son a shot, however, in Bangor, Maine. In 1971 he promoted his first wrestling card there. In 1972, in addition to promoting, McMahon provided play-by-play commentary for WWWF television, but promotion was his real interest.
Throughout the 70's, McMahon became a prominent force in his father's company, tripling the WWWF's TV syndication and pushing for the renaming of the company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. In 1979, he also purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum, which held both hockey and wrestling events, and in 1980 he incorporated Titan Sports, Inc., which would purchase the Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father in 1982. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that would fundamentally change the business. By 1983, Vince had full control and ownership of the WWF and its future direction, having bought out all of his father's former partners, including Gorilla Monsoon. Vince's father died in 1984, leaving his son behind to carry on his pro wrestling legacy. The first thing he did as full owner of the WWF was to break away from the National Wrestling Alliance, as his vision of a new, national wrestling promotion was incompatible with their old-school promoting philosophy.
As WWF Chairman
The 80's boom
In 1984, McMahon built the new WWF around a young babyface named Hulk Hogan. Hogan had previously worked for McMahon's father, but was let go after appearing in Rocky III, despite the elder McMahon's warning that he would be fired for doing so. Vince welcomed him back with open arms, put the WWF title on him, and engineered Hogan's insurgence into the mainstream entertainment media, in which Hogan was portrayed as an all-American good guy. McMahon did not stop there, however, inviting rock and pop stars such as Cyndi Lauper to participate in WWF storylines in what would come to be called the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. The popularity of the WWF increased exponentially as the MTV Network often featured wrestling in its programming to follow the exploits of music stars and other celebrities in the wrestling world. McMahon called the incorporation of pro wrestling among other types of entertainment such as music and movies Sports Entertainment. Around the same time, McMahon publicly admitted the secret behind kayfabe in professional wrestling: that its outcomes were predetermined, moves rehearsed, and that wrestlers played character roles much like actors do.
The culmination of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection was the first-ever WrestleMania event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. While wrestling mega-events were not a new idea (the NWA's Starrcade had existed for several years), WrestleMania was innovative in its inclusion of mainstream stars, including Mr. T, Cyndi Lauper, Muhammad Ali, Billy Martin, Liberace, and the Radio City Rockettes. McMahon promoted the event across the country on closed-circuit television (pay-per-view technology was not yet sufficiently developed), pouring all of his and his company's resources into what was widely seen in the business as a long shot. The investment paid off, and the inaugural WrestleMania was a resounding financial success. The show became an annual event, and its 21st incarnation will occur on April 3, 2005. WrestleMania III in 1987 was arguably the most popular, drawing nearly 100,000 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan and many more viewers on pay-per-view for the much-anticipated showdown between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant.
McMahon was put on trial in 1994, accused of distributing steroids to his wrestlers. As a legal move, his wife Linda was made CEO of the WWF during the trial. He was acquitted of all charges, but later admitted taking steroids himself in the 80's. The prosecution made Hulk Hogan its star witness, and his testimony in the trial severely damaged the two's friendship. In 1994, Hogan defected to the WWF's major rival organzation, World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In addition, despite not being convicted, McMahon and the WWF took a major public relations hit. The WWF's popularity declined from that point, eventually being overtaken by WCW.
The Monday Night Wars and WWF Attitude
In 1997, the WWF and its flagship show, Monday Night Raw, were consistently losing the ratings war with WCW and its new show, WCW Monday Nitro. Despite the fans' yearning for less over-the-top gimmicks like "The Patriot" and "Doink the Clown", McMahon resisted, and the WWF product was very much as it had been in late 80's and early 90's. Meanwhile, WCW's nWo angle, which blurred the division between pro wrestling and reality, was cutting-edge, and viewers deserted the WWF in droves. Eventually, taking notice of his main competition as well as upstart Extreme Championship Wrestling, McMahon started moving the WWF toward more adult-oriented and reality-based storylines. This concept, which the WWF marketed as WWF Attitude, really began with the infamous Montreal Screwjob at that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view. At the event, Vince McMahon, conspired to remove the WWF Championship from then-champion Bret Hart, who was soon leaving for WCW. The event went down, and WWF fans witnessed McMahon, who to many was largely known as an announcer rather than the WWF owner, "screw" Bret Hart out of the WWF Title "for real". After Survivor Series, McMahon inserted himself into the WWF show as the evil owner Mr. McMahon, who (fictionally) conspired and meddled in the affairs of other fan-favorite wrestlers. The leud to the prolific Austin vs. McMahon feud, in which popular beer-guzzling, finger-waving, profanity-spewing anti-hero Stone Cold Steve Austin challenged McMahon's authority every week on Raw, and business really picked up. In 1998, the WWF solidified itself as the wrestling ratings king and never looked back.
The new millenium and the birth of WWE
In 1999, McMahon took the WWF public; the McMahon family retained the vast majority of voting shares, however. Forbes has put his net worth at $700 million.
In 2001, his company created a joint venture with NBC for a new professional American football league, the XFL. The league folded after one season and is widely regarded as a colossal failure.
Also in 2001, the North American wrestling landscape changed forever when McMahon purchased his then failing rival, WCW. AOL Time Warner, then WCW's parent company, was looking to cut costs dramatically in the wake of its merger. WCW was an easy choice, since it was now losing millions of dollars a year after the departure of figurehead and nWo architect Eric Bischoff. ECW went bankrupt that year, as well, and McMahon purchased the rights to its video library and trademarks. This WCW, ECW, and WWF "merger" created the biggest and practically only major pro wrestling organization in North America. Since then, however, the WWF failed to hold onto WCW and ECW viewers as well as many of its own viewers, and the wrestling business is largely viewed to be in decline. In fairness, McMahon would be the first to point out that the is still very profitable, making millions of dollars a year, and its brand recognition is strong.
Having saturated itself with its own talent as well as much of the former talent WCW and ECW, WWE underwent a talent roster and brand split a year later, creating separate WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown! (a new WWE show broadcast on the United Paramount Network beginning in 1999) brand both with exclusive title belts.
In May 2002, McMahon changed the WWF's name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund over the use of and trading using the WWF initials.
Personal life
McMahon married high school sweetheart Linda Edwards on August 6, 1966. They have two children, Stephanie and Shane; both are involved with the business end of WWE. Stephanie is married to Paul Levesque, who is one of the WWE's biggest in-ring stars as Triple H. McMahon lives in a multi-million dollar mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut with his wife Linda.
On February 13, 2004, Vince and Linda became grandparents when Shane's son, Declan James McMahon, was born. The months-long planned celebration of the past, present and future of the company (and therefore McMahon family) at WrestleMania XX included Vince with son Shane and then days-old grandson Declan, aptly symbolizing the slogan of the event "Where it all begins...again".
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